Highly recommended comedy October 7th: "Funny Girls to the Front"

It's also my friend Samhita Mukhopadhyay's Outdated book party in Brooklyn and, of course, Yom Kippur, but if you're in NYC and want to laugh your ass off, $10 is a huge bargain for these funny ladies. And Sara Marcus's Girls to the Front is a book I highly recommend. I'll be atoning in my own way. I've been doing lots of it but have a bunch of apologies to muster up the courage to deliver. Don't think I'm gonna fast this year, but we'll see. My mistakes are often ones I repeat ad nauseam so all I can ask for in the coming year is to make new mistakes. And be ready for anything.

Funny Girls to the Front
Part of New Museum Presents

$10 Members, $12 General Public

Featuring performances by Carolyn Castiglia, Bridget Everett, Erin Markey, Larissa Velez-Jackson, and Becky Yamamoto. Hosted by Adira Amram and the Experience.

Drawing inspiration from two disparate sources—Sara Marcus’s book Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution and the Barbara Streisand movie Funny Girl (a musical comedy about a Follies star who leaves her husband after he nearly sabotages her entire career)—tonight’s program, “Funny Girls to the Front,” showcases a line-up of female artists who make music funny on their own terms. These irrepressible entertainers employ original music in provocative and hilarious ways as an integral part of their performance practices, confronting assumptions and redefining the boundaries of their chosen disciplines (comedy, cabaret, performance art, and contemporary dance) in the process.

Adira Amram, "Mom Song," pot and leotards - all in one music video!

I've loved this Adira Amram song since I first heard her perform it, and now there's an awesome, pot and leotard-filled video to go with it!

ECNY Awards nominees

I used to be a rabid comedygoer. Now I'm more of an interested observer, but still, congratulations to all the nominees! Go to ECNY for the fancy version, with links. I heart many performers here, especially Adira Amram, Claudia Cogan, Giulia Rozzi and Sara Benincasa.

Extra special shoutouts from me to The Sarah Palin Vlogs, The Rejection Show and The Comics Comic.

The ECNY Awards are produced by Alex Goldberg (Fearsome), Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show), Carol Hartsell (Drink at Work), Nate Sloan (The Apiary), and Alexander Zalben (Elephant Larry).

For more information, please visit the awards website at ECNYAwards.com.

WHAT: The ECNY Awards

WHEN: March 9, 2009 @ 8:00pm

WHERE: Comix NY; 353 W. 14th St.; Just east of 9th Ave.

ONLINE: WWW.ECNYAWARDS.COM

Best Host
Leo Allen – Whiplash
Sara Benincasa – Family Hour, Ultimate Gossip Girl Sumit
Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate, and Max Silvestri – Big Terrific
Seth Herzog - Sweet
Eliza Skinner/ Shockwave – The BEATdown

Best Sketch Comedy Group
BriTANick - www.britanick.com
Derrick - www.derrickcomedy.com
Elephant Larry - www.elephantlarry.com
Murderfist - www.murderfist.com
Pangea 3000 - www.pangea3000.com

Best Improv Group
Bastian - newyork.ucbtheatre.com/shows/5
Centralia
Death By Roo Roo - myspace.com/deathbyrooroo
4Track - 4track.tumblr.com
Mother - motherimprov.com

Best Musical Comedy Act (Solo or Group)
Adira Amram
Baby Wants Candy
Shayna Ferm
I Eat Pandas
Reggie Watts

Best Female Standup Comedian
Michelle Buteau
Claudia Cogan
Michelle Collins
Jackie Monahan
Giulia Rozzi

Best Male Standup Comedian
Hannibal Burress
Pete Holmes
Joe Mande
Matt McCarthy
Kumail Nanjiani

Best Website
The Comics Comic - thecomicscomic.com
Drink at Work - drinkatwork.com/
Improv Everywhere - improveverywhere.com/
Improv is Good For You - improvisgoodforyou.com/
Jake and Amir - jakeandamir.com/
UCB Comedy - ucbcomedy.com

Best One Person Show
Kurt Braunohler – Kurt Braunohler's One Man Show: A Meditation on Dum Dums and B-holes
Chris Gethard - Chris Gethard's Magic Box of Stories
Kumail Nanjiani – Unpronouncable
Lennon Parham – She Tried to Be Normal
Charlie Sanders – Minnesota Muslim

Best Performance in a Commercial or Episode of Law and Order
Brett Gelman – NY Lottery (Little Bit O' Luck)
John Gemberling – Boost Mobile
Matt McCarthy – Verizon
Matt Oberg – Ritz Crackers
Ptolemy Slocum – NY Lotto

Best Short Comedic Film
Governor Palin Vlogs - Sara Benincasa & Diana Saez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEW12XLUM7A
Green Screen - Eugene Cordero http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6d205ba6c4/fun-with-editing-from-eugene-cordero#player
It's Just Business - BOF http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=47908886
The Phelps Minute - Rob Lathan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXlk-FMei6o&feature=channel_page
Val Verde - Elephant Larry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_d-nN7HvEs&feature=channel_page

Best Technician
Pat Baer
Jon Gutierrez
Carol Hartsell
Richard Jones
Jasper Ream

Best Variety Show
Big Terrific
The Dave Hill Explosion
High School Talent Show
The Rejection Show
Whiplash

Outstanding Achievement in Flyer or Postcard Design
Steve Dressler – High School Talent Show
Dyna Moe - Gavin Speiller Needs Your Approval
Anya Garrett – Jar Full of Roaches
Keith Huang & Ariel Estrada – Kevin Allison's 'F*** Up'
Stefan Lawrence – Sketchfest NYC

Emerging Comic Award
Sara Benincasa
Joselyn Hughes
Mark Normand
Lennon Parham
Sean Patton
Brooke Van Poppelen

"and we get high/just my mom and me"

No, not my mom (though that possibility could be a story for another day - I don't do drugs and except on very rare occasions, don't drink), but I am absolutely in love with this song by Adira Amram I heard the other day - not sure of the name, but maybe it's called "Mom" - I will have to ask her. If you watch this video below, it's at 3:20 (though obviously should be at 4:20) - you can probably click through faster directly at YouTube. I interviewed Adira in 2006 for Gothamist and have loved watching her perform over the last two years. She's going places, people, in her gorgeous leotards. Feministing sponsored a fabulous lineup of female comics last Monday at Comix as a fundraiser for The Hysterical Festival. See the photo set by Maryanne Ventrice, who kindly let me repost these photos. First of is the wonderful Desiree Burch and Comix PR superstar Kambri Crews, demonstrating that Comix and the Hysterical Festival are BFFS, second is of Ms. Adira.